Warrants shed light in slayings

Affidavit: Juvenile admitted to the killings

Feb. 8, 2013

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Authorities say at least one teen held in connection with a double homicide in Stone County has admitted to the slayings.

Search warrants from Greene County obtained by the News-Leader shed new light on the investigation into the deaths of retirees Paul Brian Brooks, 70, and Margaret Susan Brooks, 69.

Christopher Allen, 15, and Anthony Zarro, 16 are currently being held in the Greene County Juvenile Facility after allegedly running away from a boys ranch and ending up at 1722 Trace Hollow Road in Lampe.

The warrants — one for each suspect — were filed in Greene County court to seize evidence from the teens. Officers took a full set of fingerprints, a blood sample, mouth swabs and photographs of injuries from each boy.

According to the warrants, the boys were reported as runaways from the Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch on Jan. 29. They were last seen at the ranch, about three miles from where the Brookses were staying, around 7 p.m.

At about 5:22 p.m. on Jan. 31, the Stone County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a neighbor along Trace Hollow Road. That neighbor told authorities he saw two juveniles taking items from the home where the Brookses had been vacationing. He said the two juveniles were loading items into a blue Saturn he knew to be owned by the Brookses.

The neighbor took the keys from the car and held the two teens at gunpoint until authorities arrived, the warrants say. The neighbor’s name is not mentioned in the documents.

Deputies found the Brookses in the bedroom of the home. According to the search warrant affidavits, which contain identical facts, evidence indicates the two victims were killed in the kitchen of the home and then dragged into the bedroom.

Both had what was described as severe blunt force trauma to their heads, the document said.

Inside the car, authorities found a wooden bed post with what appeared to be blood on it, the affidavit said. A bag inside the residence contained prescription medication, and one of the victims’ ID cards was allegedly found on one of the juveniles. The affidavit does not list which victim or which juvenile.

According to the affidavit, while Zarro was being detained at the scene, he was asked to show his hands to be swabbed for evidence.

The document says he answered: “Why do you need to do that, I already told you I killed them?”

An autopsy of the Brookses showed both sustained stab wounds as well, and stabbing was listed as the likely cause of death. There was no mention of stabbing injuries in the search warrant affidavit.

The Brookses were from Michigan. They often vacationed at son Patrick’s lake house on Table Rock.

They had three sons, three daughters-in-law and nine grandchildren. In July, they planned to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.